Allen Graves is already one of the more interesting preseason tests on the Toronto Raptors’ roster, and the first real look at him could come Saturday against the Los Angeles Clippers in Vancouver.
The 19th overall pick missed Toronto’s preseason opener after tweaking his groin in training camp, but the opportunity ahead of him is clear enough. After a strong Summer League, Graves has a chance to work his way into rotation consideration. What these next few games will really show, though, is what he still has to prove.
That part of the story starts with how unusual Graves has been from the jump. Darko Rajakovic made a joke about it at Media Day last week: “Allen Graves played backup five at University of Santa Clara, and we drafted him [with] a first-round draft pick.
I mean, who does that, right?” It was a light line, but it captured the appeal.
Graves is not a conventional first-rounder, and Toronto seems intrigued by exactly that.
He didn’t even arrive at basketball the normal way. Graves grew up playing football in Louisiana, then hit a growth spurt before Grade 10 that took him from 6-foot-1 to 6-foot-7, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.
From there came two state titles and a Louisiana Mr. Basketball award.
At Santa Clara, he redshirted his first year, then came off the bench in 31 of 35 games as a freshman. He averaged 11.8 points and 6.5 rebounds in 22.6 minutes, but the numbers that helped drive his draft rise were the quieter ones underneath.
As Matthew Ho of The Athletic reported in June, NBA analytics departments liked Graves’ 1.9 steals, 2.8 offensive rebounds and 2.5 assist-to-turnover ratio. He generated extra possessions and didn’t hand them away very often.
That profile showed up again in Summer League, where Graves averaged 16.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.3 steals over four games. He also put together a 23-point outing against Miami, going 4-of-6 from 3-point range.
Rajakovic has made it clear what he sees in him. “He's a type of player that he can play multiple positions, that he can cover position 2, 3, 4, 5, 1,” Rajakovic said. "I really love the diversity he brings to our team."
That kind of flexibility matters for a Raptors group that already has a cluster of long, athletic forwards in Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett, Collin Murray-Boyles and Kawhi Leonard. Graves fits alongside that shape without asking Toronto to change the way it wants to defend. He also gives the team another possible answer at center in smaller lineups.
The rebounding piece matters, too. Toronto was beaten on the glass 55-43 by Miami in its preseason opener, and Graves has already shown he can help there, especially on the offensive boards.
Offensively, the challenge is simpler: keep firing. Graves hit 41.3% from 3-point range at Santa Clara, though he did it on only about 2.6 attempts per game.
Toronto finished 12-of-41 from deep against Miami, and Rajakovic has stressed the need for more 3-point volume. If Graves is open, the green light has to stay on.
The other questions are more about survival than skill. Can he stay in front of quicker guards when he gets isolated?
His agility was one of the concerns around him before the draft, and preseason is Toronto’s first chance to see how he handles NBA speed. Can he process the game fast enough when the floor tightens?
His low turnover numbers helped him at Santa Clara, but the NBA asks for those reads quicker, especially in the short roll. If he can make the right pass there, he becomes the kind of connector Rajakovic can trust.
None of that means Raptors 905 would be a setback. For a team that expects to contend, steady minutes in Mississauga could be more useful than sitting at the end of Toronto’s bench.
And with Leonard still ramping up, Graves may get his chance sooner than expected. If he checks the right boxes over the final four preseason games, Rajakovic could have a real decision on his hands.
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